Best app to sync phone to PC

FrankieJ said:

DropBox and DropSync together, Pete. Both free.

DropBox gives you 2GB storage space for free when you join. And you get 500MB extra if you use a referral, like this one from me. Then I get 500MB extra too.
But I would not use DropBox for confidential files.

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Thanks, but I wish to backup to my PC. I guess I'm from the old school and don't trust the cloud.
Pete

FrankieJ said:

Then you may want to try either WiFi Direct, WiFi File Transfer, or SonicShare. All free apps in the Play Store, none of which use the internet.

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Thanks. They sound like file transfer programs. I'm looking for an app that does automatic backups.
Pete

CodeMonkey said:

Foldersync - lite version is here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.lite

I use the paid version to do nightly backups to my server

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Thanks. I just purchased FolderSync for evaluation purposes. So far it looks promising. I have automatic backups set for both my laptop and wife's via FTP. I'm now tweaking the settings. As an aside, I was never able to get backups working simultaneously to both laptops using TMS.
Pete

dvhttn said:

MyPhoneExplorer will sync files between PC and phone, plus sync contacts/calendar/tasks etc.

Dave

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Thanks. Some time ago I tried MyPhoneExplorer to backup Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Notes, etc. I caught it in an error so ended up selecting Android-Sync for that purpose. It's worked flawlessly ever since. Now I'm looking for a complementary app that backs up user-selected folders on phone at a programmed frequency.
Pete

I've been testing Foldersync and it initially looked promising. Unfortunately, it repetitively overwrites many files while syncing that haven't changed. This really slows down the syncs and makes it virtually unusable. Has anyone figured out how to solve this problem? And yes, I'm wanting to backup to my Windows PC. One pro of FolderSync is that it preserves the timestamp of files whereas Titanimum Media Sync (TMS) does not. TMS sets the timestamp of sync'd file to the time of the transfer.
Pete

CodeMonkey said:

Foldersync - lite version is here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.lite

I use the paid version to do nightly backups to my server

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Thanks again. I've run into a couple of road blocks with FolderSync as follows:

1. Can't get the schedule to work
2. When it does sync, it overwrites some (but not all) files that haven't changed on phone

The positives (compared to Titanium Media Sync) are:

1. Preserves correct timestamp
2. Syncs to both my laptop and wife's

I'm set to one way sync to remote. I'm using FTP to my Windows laptop. Wonder if you would care to share some of your setting with me?
Pete

CodeMonkey said:

Unfortunately I don't use the built-in scheduling as I use a fairly convoluted Tasker profile to trigger my sync via SMB instead. I'm not seeing overwrite issues AFAIK but I use my syncs to provide a 1 night, 1 week redundancy backup (main server backs up once a week to second server).
I'd suggest trying the Google group for support https://groups.google.com/forum/m/?fromgroups#!forum/tacitdynamics - I've found them most helpful in the past.

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Thanks. I've already posted to that forum
Pete

CodeMonkey said:

If it helps - the options I'm using are always overwrite, prefer local files and use MD5 checksums.
I seem to recall encountering some sort of issue when using the built-in scheduling and restricting the sync to certain WiFi networks. It was one of the reasons I moved to Tasker -driven scheduling if I remember correctly (along with using a WoL plugin to wake my sleeping server prior to running the sync, and limiting it to run only when I was at home)

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Thanks. I'll make sure to use those settings
Pete

I've now discovered that FolderSync cannot reliably maintain a backup schedule. Based upon this and the above I've disqualified it. The functionality of both Titanium Media Sync and FolderSync is acceptable, but the implementation leaves much to be desired. Can anyone recommend alternatives with similar functionality that work as advertised?
Pete

SUroot said:

I own Tasker but I have never had to use it in conjunction with FolderSync. I find personally that it does reliably maintain a backup schedule. Not sure what's happening with yours?




Why are you using FTP? SMB would be much more suitable to windows machines. I would only use FTP on a Linux or Mac box as a last resort.

I use:

To Remote

Scheduling - Advanced
mon-sun, 03:00
Sync Subfolders
Sync Hidden
Overwrite old - Always
If conflicting modifications - skip


If you want me to do some tests to confirm or deny your reliability concerns, please let me know but I am definitely satisfied with its scheduling.

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Thanks. I've tried most all combinations of settings. I've tried the ones you mentioned except that if conflict I used Local and schedule set to Advanced, every hour, 7 days/week. I started using FTP with Titanium Media Sync (TMS) and just stuck with it in combination with FileZilla running on the PC. I also use FTP with Directory Opus (Opus Home) as a replacement for Windows Explorer to manipulate files on phone from PC.

Last night I ran a test with the schedule set to every 15 minutes on a relatively small test folder containing 14 picture files. It maintained the scheduled for almost 2 hours and then the interval started increasing to 1/2 hour and then 1 hour and finally stopped altogether. I did not have it set to sync on charge and there was plenty of battery power throughout. I was syncing with WiFi and there have been no interruptions there that I'm aware of. When I opened FolderSync in the morning, I was able to run a manual scan with no issues, which told me that it was certainly capable of doing so on its own. BTW, my phone is a rooted Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.2.2.

Also, the fact that it overwrites some files (One way to Remote) that have not changed on phone, would also force me to disqualify it. This would extend the sync time by an unacceptable amount. I did read on their website that this has been noted by others although not all. Also, as a last straw, I enabled Instant Sync and then copied one file at a time into the source folder on phone. No syncs were started by FolderSync. As far as FTP is concerned, TMS has no problems communicating with PC and of course, FolderSync has no trouble when it decides to sync. BTW, it's not that FolderSync tries and fails to sync; it never tries on the missed intervals. My only issues with TMS are:

1. Won't let me simultaneously backup to a 2nd PC via FTP
2. Doesn't maintain timestamps of files

They are serious enough issues to search for an alternative, but not nearly as serious as the ones I'm having with FolderSync
Pete